Before this year the sum of my college age daughter and my taxes was less by making her my dependent. This year because of the AMT as a dependent she saves me $10 in taxes whereas she saves $200 more in taxes by being her own dependent. So if you are in the same boat check it out both ways. Thankfully it is so easy to change with a tax program. Doing what ifs like this when you are hit by the AMT by hand would be a real killer.
Happy 4/17
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While I am a layman and not a tax expert, I didn't think that you got to pick and choose. I thought that if you _could_ claim your daughter as a dependent (i.e., she met all of the tests as a dependent) then she was PROHIBITED by law from claiming herself as an exemption on her own tax form, even if you elected _not_ to take the deduction yourself.
AFAIK you can elect _not_ to claim her as a dependent but because you could then she cannot claim herself even if you don't. As I recall, that's a tax gotcha.
Am I wrong? (if I am, I am sure others will be quick to correct)
She can't take a dependency exemption for herself if you could have claimed her, even if you choose not to claim her. However, she may be eligible to claim the education credits on her return if she's not claimed on yours. Phoebe :)
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